


Room Enough for Regret

by McDanno_Girl



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Angst, Canon Divergence, Did I Mention Angst?, Future Fic, M/M, oh the angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-03-16
Updated: 2014-03-16
Packaged: 2018-01-15 22:15:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,344
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1321153
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/McDanno_Girl/pseuds/McDanno_Girl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>If every decision you make has the power to change your whole life, how do you make the right choice?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Room Enough for Regret

**Author's Note:**

> So the plot bunny for this story has been nibbling at my brain for almost two years now. It is nowhere near being complete and I have no idea what the time frame will be for its completion. There is heartbreak. There is angst galore. There might even be some tears. I have tagged it intentionally the way I have as I don't want to give anything about the plot away. If you absolutely insist on knowing the ending before you begin reading, I can be reached on Twitter at @_fangirlishness or the email in my profile here. 
> 
> Title is from the Ani DiFranco gem “Providence” which as a song, has nothing to do whatsoever with the plot of this fic. But the line, it haunts me. And it all but forced me to write this story.
> 
> _it's a narrow margin_  
>  _just room enough for regret_  
>  _in the inch and a half between_  
>  _hey, how ya been?_  
>  _and_  
>  _can I kiss you yet?_

**February, 2011**

Danny raised his head off the steering wheel and resisted the urge to smash his skull into it a few times. He settled instead for smacking it none too gently with his left hand since his right hand was still a little tender from the previous assault. 

Fucking Matt. 

Moron. 

Idiot. 

Asshole. 

Coward. 

Fuck Matt and his “you either shoot me or you say goodbye.”

And fuck himself for not shooting Matt in the foot. Or the leg. Or doing something, anything, to keep the plane from leaving.

“You fucked this one up Williams,” Danny muttered to himself not even sure anymore which Williams he was referring to.

Fuck.

What was he supposed to do now? 

Fuck Matt again for leaving Danny to clean up his mess. And tell their family.

Danny felt like yelling. He felt like raging at the stupidity of it all.

Instead, he leaned his head back as far as the seat would allow and closed his eyes. After taking a few deep breaths he opened them again and started the car. Sitting at the airport, the scene of his failure, wasn't going to do anyone, especially him, any good.

He drove the short distance from the airfield to the highway in a daze. He was so lost in his thoughts, OK anger, that he barely even noticed reaching the end of the street. 

It was only after he'd been sitting there for five minutes waiting for the stop sign to turn green that he realized he probably wasn't in the best condition to be driving.

But he wasn't about to call someone to pick him up. No, he needed a little more time to think. To work out what he was going to tell the FBI. Steve. His parents.

What a fucking mess this was. Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck.

He was in the middle of another round of smacking the steering wheel as hard as he could when he heard his phone beep.

One new text. From Steve.

      [808] Where are you?

And right above that were the texts Steve had sent late the night they had eaten dinner with Matt, Rachel and Grace.

      [808] When this is all done we should

      [808] talk.

Two separate texts. Danny wasn't sure if it was by accident because God only knew how many times he'd accidentally sent a text too soon with his goofy thumbs or if it was because Steve had maybe wanted to end that sentence differently, thought about it, then changed his mind. 

He wasn't blind. He saw the way Steve looked at him sometimes. He knew how he looked at Steve sometimes. He felt the thrum of attraction between the two of them, always in the background as they bickered and argued and teased each other. 

They were always in each other's spaces. Always orbiting around each other. Close, but not touching. Much. 

At dinner though, when Steve leaned in after Danny made the FBI guys, Danny felt something shift. Their orbit slipped an infinitesimal amount of space closer and Danny knew they were about to collide.

Apparently, Steve had felt it too.

Twirling his phone slowly in his hand he sat there with the flashers on for who knows how long. 

Danny knew he shouldn't be alone, not after all that had happened tonight.

If he went to Steve's there was no doubt in Danny's mind that they'd end up fucking. And as much as he wanted Steve, as much as he had imagined all the things he wanted to do to and with him, he wasn't sure if this moment was the right time to start something that would change their relationship forever.

Rachel knew Matt. Knew how much Matt meant to Danny on a level no one else in Hawaii would. Even with all their issues he knew Rachel would be there for him. Let him cry, figuratively or literally, on her shoulder.

But oh how he wanted to drown himself in Steve's body for the night and forget for a few hours what a horrible fucked up day this had been.

He stared at the blinking lights on his dash. Arrows pointing both directions blinking on and off and on and off. 

Turn right and he'd be in the familiar comfort of Rachel's presence.

Turn left and he'd be heading down an unfamiliar path with Steve, but could maybe lose himself for the night.

Left. Right. Left. Right. The clicking of the flashers seemed to echo in his brain. Left. Right. Left. Right. Steve. Rachel. 

Steve. 

Rachel.

Rachel.

Steve.

He turned right.

**September, 2030**

The airport was different. Of course it was. They had to rebuild it after the earthquakes and flooding of 2019. Danny may not have set foot in Hawaii since he left almost twenty years ago but he did watch the news. 

The automated walkway was nice, especially since his bad knee was acting up again. He snorted softly to himself. Who was he kidding? It was a rare day anymore when his bad knee wasn't causing him pain. Such was getting older.

After collecting his baggage he made his way to the terminal entrance and the long line of cabs waiting to pick up tourists and locals and anyone else in need of their service. 

He knew he should go to his hotel. He was exhausted and was in desperate need of about a week of sleep. But when the driver asked him where to, Danny found himself answering with 2727 Piikoi Street. 

The ride was silent. Danny sat in the backseat with his eyes closed thinking about his brief tenure on the island. The friends he made. The life he had started to build for himself here. But then Rachel got pregnant and that was it. He was back in New Jersey a few days after he helped clear Steve's name for the murder of Governor Jamison.

And until recently, he had never really looked back.

He had always meant to stay in touch. But the days turned to weeks turned to months and suddenly too much time had passed. Calling would seem awkward. Maybe a little forced. And besides, what do you say to the person whose heart you might have broken a little?

In what seemed like no time at all the cab was pulling into the driveway of the familiar beach front home. It was a pale yellow now and the front porch looked different from what he remembered, but the mailbox still said McGarrett and Danny figured that was all that mattered.

As Danny walked up the steps carrying his bags he wondered if Steve still left the doors unlocked. And if the alarm code was still the same. That is, if he had bothered to set it at all.

_“My old New Jersey zip code? Seriously?”_

_“I had to make it easy for you to remember Danno.”_

_“Don't call me Danno. And fuck you. Ass.”_

Unsurprisingly, the door wasn't locked. And no alarm beeped at Danny when he opened it. Steve was nothing, if not predictable about certain things. Even after all this time.

The house was silent, dim, and stuffy in way that said the windows hadn't been opened in some time to let in fresh air. 

Danny set his bags down on the couch. It looked new. Black. Soft leather. He liked it. Glancing around he could tell that the inside of the house had been completely redone. It made sense. It had been nearly two decades since he'd seen it last.

After opening the front windows to let in some light and some plumeria scented air, he walked into the kitchen and that's when he saw it. 

A plain white envelope propped against an empty fruit bowl on the dining table. It was thick. And written on it in Steve's neat handwriting, Danny would recognize it anywhere, was one word:

_Danno ___

__Suddenly feeling a little queasy, Danny sat in the closest chair and just stared at it._ _

__This was going to be a long couple of days._ _


End file.
